senator, you can't teach religion in public schools. by the way, think about it, what religion would you teach in public schools? we'll be right back. >>> welcome back to "hardball." what is the washington gridlock on fiscal negotiations look like to the rest of the world, particularly europe where eurozone are taking drastic budget cuts and austerity measures that make our situation look tame. chris just returned from a trip to europe's capitals, including athens, and shares his experience of the complete devastation in greece currently dealing with. jared bernstein, storm former economic adviser. we don't know what the risks are of what might happen january 1st. there's a risk it could be horrible. that's all i'm saying. tell me what you saw in athens n greece when you were just there. >> i've traveled to greece quite a bit over the last few years for political work i've done there in the past. i don't know how to express it any more clearly than it was unbelievably sad and depressing. i mean, the country is in a great depression. une